Formwork element

ABSTRACT

A formwork element for the production of a concrete wall of which the formwork element forms part, comprising a pair of panels, at least two spaced-apart connector members connected to each panel to connect the panels together in spaced-apart relationship, interconnecting means disposed between said panels to permit the element to be interconnected with a further element disposed above or below the first-mentioned element.

United States Patent [72] lnventor Herbert Fitzek A-9523 Landskron. nearVillach, (Karnten).

Austria [21 1 Appl. No 806,540 [22] Filed Mar. 12,1969 [45] PatentedJune 1, 1971 [32] Priority Mar. 14, 1968 [33] Austria [3l A25 14/68 [54]FORMWORK ELEMENT 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 52/593, 52/309, 52/438 [51] Int. Cl E04b 2/38, E040l/10,E04c 2/10 [50] Field of Search 52/437, 438, 309, 606, 439, 600,608,607,593, 594, 585; 46/2426 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,668,435 2/1954 Clements 52/606 Playthings July 1964 Vol. 62No. 7pages 101, 102 class 46 25 Primary Examiner-John E. MurtaghAttorneyWoodhams, Blanchard and Flynn ABSTRACT: A formwork element forthe production of a concrete wall of which the formwork element formspart, comprising a pair of panels, at least two spaced-apart connectormembers connected to each panel to connect the panels together inspaced-apart relationship, interconnecting means disposed between saidpanels to permit the element to be interconnected with a further elementdisposed above or below the first-mentioned element.

PATENTEU JUN 1 [WI FIG.2

I I fly/ iroaiviwonir ELEMENT This invention refers to a formworkelement for production ofa concrete wall of which the formwork elementis part.

An object of this invention is to provide a formwork element that may becombined with similar elements to produce a formwork structure.

Therefore, the invention provides a formwork element for the productionof a concrete wall of which the formwork element forms part, comprisinga pair of panels, at least two spaced-apart connector members connectedto each panel to connect the panels together in spaced-apartrelationship, in terconnecting means disposed between said panels topermit the element to be interconnected with a further element disposedabove or below the first-mentioned element.

The interconnecting means may comprise parallel plugs provided on andcorresponding cavity provided in said connector members and adapted torespectively engage corresponding cavities or plugs in said furtherelement.

The top and bottom extremities of the panels may be respectivelycoplanar, the plugs projecting beyond the plane of the top extremitiesand normally of said plane, corresponding cavities extending inwardlyfrom the plane of the bottom extremities, and normally thereof.

Preferably the plugs are circular in section and have a diameter greaterthan the thickness of each said panel.

Parallel continuous bores may be provided in the connecting membersparallel to the axes of the plugs, these bores being adapted to bealigned with corresponding continuous bores in said further element andto contain reinforcing members.

The plugs and the cavities may be centrally disposed between the panels.

The axes of the plugs may be mutually spaced and may be spaced from theends of the panels to permit the element to be interconnected with saidfurther element with parallel displacement thereof, or to beinterconnected transversely thereof so that an end of the element iscoplanar with a panel of the further element.

Preferably, the mutual spacing of the plugs is equal to the distanceapart of the outer surfaces of the panels, and the plugs nearest theends of the panels are spaced therefrom by one half the distance apartof the outer surfaces of the panels.

Each connecting member may be approximately Z-shaped, being connected toone of the panels near the top thereof and connected to the other panelnear the bottom thereof.

The connecting members may be integrally formed with the panels.

The panels preferably are made of a rigid foam plastics material.

An advantage of the use of rigid foam for formwork elements lies in itsefficient thermal sound and moisture insulation properties.

The invention also provides a wall comprising a plurality of formworkelements as set forth above having concrete disposed between the panelsthereof.

The invention will be described merely by way of example with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is the front elevation parallel to the panel plane of a formworkelement according to the invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken along the lines ll-ll andIll-Ill of FIG. 1 respectively.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a formwork element on a much smaller scale witha transversely superposed formwork element indicated in chaindottedlines.

A formwork element consists of two mutually connected parallel rigidfoam panels 1 and l spaced, for example, 90 mm. apart and for examplel7.5 mm. thick, so that it can be used to form a partition wall with atotal thickness of l25 mm. This type of formwork element may be found tobe particularly suitable for relatively thin partition walls, e.g. lOO200 mm. thick.

Projecting ribs 2 or grooves 3 are provided on the top and bottom andend surfaces of the panels ll, 1', so that during their assembly intorows or on top of one another the panels engage to create atongue-and-groove joint, thus preventing concrete seeping between thepanels after it has been poured therein.

Connecting members 5 are provided for connecting the two panels 1 and1'. The connecting members 5 are formed in tegrally with the panels 1and l, In the front elevational view according to FIG. 1 the connectingmembers 5 are approximately Z-shaped and are attached to the top half ofpanel l and to the bottom half of panel 1. Consequently, horizontalpiercing of the concrete by the rigid foam element is avoided,increasing the fire-resistant characteristics of the wall.

Cylindrical extensions 6 and 6' project upwards and downwardsrespectively from the connecting members 5 and their extremities arerespectively coplanar with the top and bottom extremities of the panels1, l. The extension 6 is provided with a cylindrical plug 7 whichprojects beyond the upper boundary plane of panels 1, 1'. The extension6' is provided with a corresponding bore 8 which extends inwardly fromthe lower boundary plane of the panels 1, l. The diameter of the plug issuch that when a further formwork element is disposed above or below theelement, the plug 7 engages in a corresponding bore of the furtherelement to positively interconnect the formwork elements.

The diameter of the plug 7 is much greater than the thickness of panels1 and ll. For example, the diameter may be 28 mm. The bore 8 can extendover almost the entire height of the connecting piece 5 in order to savematerial.

Since, as is shown by FlG. 4, four such plugs 7 are present on oneformwork element, the positive interconnection provided thereby effectsan accurate mutual seating of the formwork elements one to anotherwithout the need for further aids in order to create an even wallsurface. Further, the assembly can be performed satisfactorily byunskilled labor.

Continuous bores l0, 10' extending parallel to the plug axis areprovided in the Z-shaped connecting members 5. The bores 10, 10' arepositioned in the element so that when other elements are connectedabove and/or below it the bores 10, 10 are aligned throughout theelements. Thus, the bores 10, 10 can be used advantageously to containvertical steel rein forcements ll (FIG. 2). In the horizontal direction,steel reinforcements 12 (P16. 1) can be fitted in the horizontalcavities between the individual connecting members 5.

As is shown by FIG. 4 four Zshaped connecting members 5 with a likenumber of plugs and bores 7 and 8 are provided evenly spaced over thehorizontal length of the formwork element. The arrangement is such thatthe axes of the laterally outer plugs 7 are spaced the same distance aapart from the adjacent end planes of the formwork element, and that thedistance between two adjacent axes is 2a. in addition, the distance ofthe axes from the external surface of the panels is a. That is to saythe outer surfaces of the panels 1, 1' are a distance 2a apart. in thisway fabrication of corner pieces and T-pieces is particularlyfacilitated. If, for example, as is shown by the chain-dotted lines, afurther formwork element is set transversely on one end of the firstformwork element, then a panel plane of the further formwork elementcoincides with the end plane of the formwork element underneath. Inorder to enable a seam-free joint to be obtained, the projecting ribs 2are interrupted, as shown by FIG. 4, on the narrow surfaces of theformwork elements at those locations 15 where during transverse jointingof formwork elements the narrow sides of the panels 1, l are disposed.Alternatively, these interruptions of the ribs 2 can be made by simplycutting away of areas at those locations 15 when required so that thetongue-andgroove joint is not interrupted. However, this may require adegree of skill in the workforce.

It will be appreciated that since the connecting members 5 are spacedapart from each other, the concrete that is poured between the panels ofa large number of interconnected elements is not divided into a numberof sections. This undesirable division into sections occurs with typesof known formwork structure in which the panels are spaced apart bytrans verse walls extending between the panels for the whole lengththereof.

In the novel elements as described herein the concrete is formed into amonolithic structure of considerably greater strength than with theknown elements.

lclaim:

l. A formwork element for use in a wall construction, comprising:

a pair of horizontally spaced panels the upper and lower edges of whichdefine vertically spaced boundary planes; Z-shaped connector memberextending between said panels, said connector member having a pair ofhorizontally extending, vertically spaced connector pieces connected attheir inner ends by a generally vertically extending connector piece,one of said horizontally extending connector pieces being integrallyconnected to one of said panels and the other of said horizontallyextending connector pieces being integrally connected to the other ofsaid panels;

a bore in said connector member opening outwardly adjacent one of saidboundary planes; and

a vertically extending plug secured to said connector member andextending upwardly, said plug having a sufficient diameter capable ofbeing received in a bore in an adjacent formwork element to positivelyinterconnect a pair of said formwork elements when said other of saidboundary planes coincides with said one of said boundary planes of anadjacent formwork element.

2. A formwork element according to claim 1, including tongueand-groovemeans provided on the edges of said horizontally spaced panels toprevent a flow of concrete which is poured into the spacing between saidpanels from escaping between a pair of said formwork elements in a wallconstruction.

3. A formwork element according to claim 1, wherein said bore is in oneend of said vertically extending connector piece and said plug issecured to the end of said vertically extending connector piece remotefrom said bore.

4. A formwork element according to claim 3, wherein said horizontallyextending connector pieces are spaced inwardly from said boundaryplanes; and

wherein said vertically extending connector piece includes projectionsextending vertically in opposite directions and terminating at saidvertically spaced boundary planes.

5. A formwork element according to claim 3, including a through bore inat least one of said horizontally extending connector pieces, said boreextending parallel to said bore in said vertically extending connectorpiece for receiving reinforcing rods therethrough.

6. A formwork element according to claim 3, wherein said bore in saidvertically extending connector piece and said plug are equally spacedfrom each of said panels, said spacing between said bore and plug andone of said panels being also equal to the spacing between said bore andplug and an end edge of said one of said panels.

7. A formwork element according to claim 6, wherein a plurality ofhorizontally spaced, Z-shaped connector members extend between said pairof panels; and

wherein the spacing between said plurality of said Z-shaped connectormembers is equal to twice the spacing between said bore and plug andsaid one of said panels.

8. A formwork element according to claim 1, wherein said plug extendingbeyond the other of said boundary planes.

9. A formwork element according to claim 1, wherein a plurality ofhorizontally spaced, Z-shaped connector members extend between said pairof panels.

10. A formwork element according to claim 1, wherein said panels andsaid connector member is made of a rigid foamed plastics material.

1. A formwork element for use in a wall construction, comprising: a pairof horizontally spaced panels the upper and lower edges of which definevertically spaced boundary planes; a Z-shaped connector member extendingbetween said panels, said connector member having a pair of horizontallyextending, vertically spaced connector pieces connected at their innerends by a generally vertically extending connector piece, one of saidhorizontally extending connector pieces being integrally connected toone of said panels and the other of said horizontally extendingconnector pieces being integrally connected to the other of said panels;a bore in said connector member opening outwardly adjacent one of saidboundary planes; and a vertically extending plug secured to saidconnector member and extending upwardly, said plug having a sufficientdiameter capable of being received in a bore in an adjacent formworkelement to positively interconnect a pair of said formwork elements whensaid other of said boundary planes coincides with said one of saidboundary planes of an adjacent formwork element.
 2. A formwork elementaccording to claim 1, including tongue-and-groove means provided on theedges of said horizontally spaced panels to prevent a flow of concretewhich is poured into the spacing between said panels from escapingbetween a pair of said formwork elements in a wall construction.
 3. Aformwork element according to claim 1, wherein said bore is in one endof said vertically extending connector piece and said plug is secured tothe end of said vertically extending connector piece remote from saidbore.
 4. A formwork element according to claim 3, wherein saidhorizontally extending connector pieces are spaced inwardly from saidboundary planes; and wherein said vertically extending connector pieceincludes projections extending vertically in opposite directions andterminating at said vertically spaced boundary planes.
 5. A formworkelement according to claim 3, including a through bore in at least oneof said horizontally extending connector pieces, said bore extendingparallel to said bore in said vertically extending connector piece forreceiving reinforcing rods therethrough.
 6. A formwork element accordingto claim 3, wherein said bore in said vertically extending connectorpiece and saId plug are equally spaced from each of said panels, saidspacing between said bore and plug and one of said panels being alsoequal to the spacing between said bore and plug and an end edge of saidone of said panels.
 7. A formwork element according to claim 6, whereina plurality of horizontally spaced, Z-shaped connector members extendbetween said pair of panels; and wherein the spacing between saidplurality of said Z-shaped connector members is equal to twice thespacing between said bore and plug and said one of said panels.
 8. Aformwork element according to claim 1, wherein said plug extendingbeyond the other of said boundary planes.
 9. A formwork elementaccording to claim 1, wherein a plurality of horizontally spaced,Z-shaped connector members extend between said pair of panels.
 10. Aformwork element according to claim 1, wherein said panels and saidconnector member is made of a rigid foamed plastics material.